Cast-iron column



(No Model.)

P. H. GRIFFIN.

GAST IRON COLUMN.

No. 312,349. Patented Peb. 17, 1885.

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I. HENRY GRIFFIN, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

C AST-lRON COLUMN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 312,349, dated February 17,1885.

Application iilcd August 2, 1884. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern.-

Beit known that l, P. HENRY Garni-imei Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Cast-Iron Columns; and I do hereby declare that the following' is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in thc manufacture of iron columns and supports for buildings and other purposes; and it consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of the parts, as more fully hereinafter specified, and pointed out in the claims. Various plans have been prepared for giving to such columns an additional element of strength that would not be subject to the action of heat as quickly as cast-iron is. It has been proposed to till such columns with wood, and by sealing up the ends ot' such colu mns after the wooden column has been inserted thus deprive the interior ofthe column of the air necessary to enable combustion to take place, it being claimed that the wood will notburn quickly, even if the column is heated to a red heat, and that it will sustain weight in this manner bett fr thin when the columns are used hollow. It has also been proposed to coat wooden posts with a fire-proof composition and protect the same by a sheet-metal easing. It has likewise been proposed to inclose one column within the other, lling the space between the two with a mortar or cement. Nearly all columns are cast hollow by means of a drysand core, which is placed in the mold where the casting is made. Such core is composed of sand mixed with iiour, glue, or other similar substances used in foundry practice, and adapted to bind the core together when dried, and to give it sufficient stability for the purpose required. Such cores are disintegrated by the heat of the molten iron during and after the process oi" casting, and after the co1- nmn is removed from the mold such core is taken out oi" the interior of the column in the manner ordinarily used in foundry-work. I find that by using silicate of soda or waterglass with sand'l in place of the flour, glue, or other substances commonly used with'such sand, the result is a core which, when cast in the column or other device to be made, is not disintegrated by the heat; but on account of the peculiar chemical action ot' the heat with reference to such silicate of soda and the sand with which it is combined the resnltis that the action ot the heat, instead of destroying` the body and substance of this core, produces the effect of turning it'into aharder compact mass, resembling stone, and which is incapable of being` destroyed by any heat such as would be developed in a burning building. Furthermore, as sand is one of the best nonconductors of heat, by the use of cores made with silicate of soda, it is possible to introduce into the interior of the column other formations of iron that would give additional sustaining power,and yet be protected from the heat of the most intense tire by the outer coating ofsand,said outer coating ofsand being kept in place by the iron cast around it.

My invention consists in giving to a cast-iron column an interior means of supporting the superimposed weight in such a manner that heat, as developed in eases of burning buildings, will not destroy the sustaining quality ot' the column, as more fully hereinafter described.

Figure l is a perspective viewof aninteriorY column, and Fig. 2 is a cross-section of a complete column with a central iron support.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, A represents a round column, its interior being subdivided into fourl different compartments, B, each of such compartments being lled with a sand core mixed with a sufficient amount of silicate' of soda to form a binder,in place of flour, glue, or other substances commonly used for this purpose. The space C. between this column and the outer column, D, is also filled, preferably,with an annular core made of sand and silicate of soda. These parts are molded in the usual manner well known to good ironfounders, and when the iron is poured into the mold it forms the columns AD,the former subdivided by the partitions E, the space between such partitions being filled with the cores, as well as thev space between the two columns, which cores are converted by the action ofthe heat upon the silicate of soda and sand into a firm compound, which remains in the columns after the same are removed from ICO the molds, and forms a protection to the inner column against the heat to which the outer column may, in case of fire, be exposed.

As sand itself is avery good non-conductor, the annular core surrounding theinner column might be made in the ordinary manner of making such cores without departing from the spirit of myinvention, so long as the cores of the inner column were made as described.

Again, my invention would include employing a wooden postsurrounded by an annular core formed thereon of silicate of soda and sand, the whole being employed as the core of the outer column in casting; or a solid iron column might be employed in place of the wooden post in the same manner and for the same purpose.

For comparatively light work there need be no inner column, so long as the core of the lighter column is formed of the sand and silicate of soda, as this alone will greatlystrengthen the iron column in which it is inclosed.

Columns thus made would never be destroyed by fires, and hence the falling of floors sustained by such columns in the burning building would be avoided, and such columns can be made at about the same expense that now attends the construction of the iron columns in ordinary use; therefore I can see noth- ,o ing to prevent this class of columns from being generally employed.

3. The concentric metallic shells A D, in v combination with a fire-proof filling between the two fused into a solid mass and to the shells, as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The concentric shells A l), held together by a nre-proof material, C, fused between the two, in combination with radial partitions, as E, strengthening the shell A, and a fire-proof material, B, filling the spaces between said partitions and the shell, the said material B being fused to the partitions and to the shell A, as and for the purposes herein specified.

r. HENRY GRIFFIN.

Witnesses:

E. A. VALEs, W. G. MOORE. 

